Anthony and Timothy
by Miss Barbara
Summary: A forbidden love, A relationship in danger, how are things going to resolve? Now finished!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: A forbidden love, a relation in danger, how are things going to resolve?  
Rating: FR15  
Genre: Friendship, Romance, Teamfic.  
Characters: The entire team, McNozzo Romance  
Spoilers: Jugdement day.  
Challenge: This is for the shakespear challenge.  
Warning: Slash, but not graphic and character death ahead!  
Author's Note: This story is set after Judgment day. Tony and Ziva are both back on Gibbs' team but McGee is still in cyber crimes. Written for the shakespear challenge at NFA.

I do not own those characters, i just play with them.

Chapter 1

McGee sighed while he logged on in the security system for the umpteenth time. He scrolled trough the list with available camera's before he clicked the one that said: Squad room, N/W corner.

Not a second later the footage of the camera popped up on his screen. He smiled, Tony was sitting behind his desk, reading GSM magazine. Ziva was working on something at her computer, but from the looks of it, the poor machine wasn't operating as she wished and had to pay.

He winced slightly when he saw her hand landing on the top of the monitor. After all these years she still didn't know better. He smiled when he saw that she was wearing her rainbow sweater again.

Gibbs wasn't sitting at his desk, so McGee thought that he was probably out for coffee.

At last he looked at his desk. His 'old' desk he correct himself. Sitting at the desk was a new junior agent.

Tim had been staring at this screen for hours and it bothered him that DiNozzo rarely picked on the boy. Maybe this was the capable field agent the team had hoped for.

He sighed and clicked the red button in the upper left corner of the screen. He had work to do.

---  
The Director's office

"I don't give a damn about how good he is for Cyber Crimes!" Gibbs yelled at Vance. "I want him back on my team."

Day after day Gibbs went up to Vance's office, telling him that he wanted McGee back. And every time he got the same answer.

"They need him more in Cyber Crimes that you need him on your team. The boy has a brilliant mind and it would be a tragedy if he got shot in the field. I won't allow it!" was Vance's daliy reply.

That was where their daily showdown usually stopped, but not this time.

"Then, I quit," Gibbs told Vance. Then he sat down at an office chair.

"Give me one more of those files and I will be gone." His tone made it clear to Vance that this was not a debate; Gibbs would really leave this time.

Vance growled and barged out of his office. He walked over to Cynthia's desk and picked up the phone.

"Agent McGee," he barked in to the phone. "My office, now!" with that, he slammed the phone down.

He didn't say a name, but McGee knew who he was. He sighed and put his password protected screen saver on.

He told the woman next to him, he still didn't know her name, she should talk more often, that he was going to the Director's office and would be back in a little while. She nodded and he walked over to the elevator.

Ten minutes later the 'ding' of the elevator told him that he was on the Director's floor. He got out of the elevator and walked over to Cynthia's desk.

"Go right in, "she told him, they're already waiting for you."

He wondered shortly who 'they' could be but then he walked in to the office. He smiled upon the sight of his boss, maybe today was the day that he would be transferred back.

But one look at Gibbs' his face told him that that wasn't going to happen.

"McGee," Vance said. His voice was so cold that it felt like the room temperature had dropped several degrees. "We have a little problem here," he continued on in the same tone.

"Special Agent Gibbs is threatening to quit if he can't have you back on his team. Since I'm not going to transfer you back, maybe you should give your opinion on the matter."

Two pair of eyes were looking at him. One pair sad and the other was ice cold.

McGee wondered if he had ever before seen so much emotion in the man's eyes. But before he could take another look he heard.

"McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Boss," he started, not completely sure what he should say. "I don't want you to quit because of me. You love this job, and you're great at it. It would be a waste."

He shifted his gaze from his former boss to the Director. "I want nothing more than going back to being a field agent, even if it means crazy long hours and being made fun of by Tony."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest. He walked over next to Gibbs. "If he quits, I quit too." McGee stated.

Vance closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his forehead. These annoying stubborn agents. He sighed. "Not just yet. I can't transfer him yet. I will promise you both that as soon as it is possible I will transfer him back to your team Agents Gibbs."

He sighed and walked over to his desk. Giving them a sign that the conversation was over.

Gibbs walked out of the office with McGee on his heels. He signs to Tim to follow him. They went down the stairs into the bullpen without a word. He grabbed Tony's chair and pushed McGee into the seat.

"Are you on some sort of mission downstairs McGee?" Gibbs questioned him.

All of a sudden Tim felt like he was being interrogated. Gibbs was standing before him, staring him down. And behind him were Tony and Ziva.

"Sort of, boss, but it was need to know, and Vance specifically told me not to tell you." He felt himself shrink under Gibbs' gaze.

"I have to go back boss." He jumped out of the chair and ran back to the safe elevator.

Back at cyber crimes his heart was still racing, so he decided to e-mail Abby first before he would go back to work.

-----

The moment the clock hit 5 o'clock he jumped up out of his seat and made sure that he was in the first elevator back upstairs.

He drove back home without turning the music on, but he smiled happily when he saw the familiar car in the parked place. As soon as he opened the door, hands pulled him inside, a mouth kissed him, hard and full of passion. The hands were now wondered over his body.

He joined in on the kiss, their tongues battling, hands grabbing his hair, and a body pressing up to him. If this moment could last forever he would give everything he had to keep it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After a while they run out of oxygen, and he freed himself from Tony's grip.

"Tony," he panted. "I need to breath."

Tony pushed Tim against the wall and rested his forehead against Tim's.

"I miss you so much Tim, why can't you come back." It was more of a plea than a question Tim noticed.

"I can't, "Tim answered, "not just yet. But I am working on it, you have to trust me."

Tony let out a fake little laugh. "Trust you. Why should I trust you? You didn't even tell me that you had a mission downstairs. And now you tell me to trust you." Tony exclaimed.

McGee sighed and dragged Tony over to the couch. He pushed him down and sat down beside him.

"Tony, this is a need to know op. To be honest, the only thing that I know is that I need to crack that file, and it's taking me forever. Don't you think that I want to come back? Do you think that I prefer those geeks over you guys?" Tim tried to explain.

Tony didn't look at all happy with the confession. "You are the king of the geeks, probie! What's not to like downstairs?" He snarled, angry.

McGee gulped. Tony only called him probie outside the job of if he was angry, or disappointed. He lowered his head in his hands and tried to think.

"I don't know!" he screamed while jumping up from the couch. "I don't freaking know!" He screamed at wits end.

He turned around to Tony and saw the surprised look in his eyes. McGee could understand. He rarely lost his temper, and even rarer cursed. "How do you think this is for me? Now, what do you think? They annoy me with their problems all day long, they admire me because I carry a gun."

His eyes softened and he spoke a little less loud. "Knowing that you are out there in the field makes me want to throw up. And I know, you are in no less danger, but it makes me feel better when I am with you. I knew when you returned. You hardly ever talk about the cases you're working on. I feel like an island."

With his rant finished he walked out of their living room, grabbed Jethro's leash and called his dog. A few minutes later Tony watched them both leave through their living room window. Jethro, waggling his tail happily, and McGee pacing forward.

He slammed his fist against the wall. He hated the mess that they were in.

It took McGee three hours to return. It may have been the longest three hours of Tony's life, he wasn't sure. What he did know was that he was ready to call Gibbs.

Gibbs, Ziva and Abby were the only ones that knew about their relationship. Two male agents living together was not appreciated within NCIS, especially not if they were in love.

When he saw Tim return he felt relieved. He raced down the stairs to greet him at the main entrance door of their apartment building.

"I am so sorry," he said while crushing Tim in a hug. "I really am, I am just tired of all the lies, and Vance breaking us up. I just want you to be back on our team."

Red eyes told Tony that Tim had been crying. The thought that his Timmy had cried over him made him feel even guiltier. He carefully guided him inside and sat him on the couch. Tim didn't speak.

He warmed up some food in the microwave and brought it back to Tim, while he was eating he made sure that Jethro had enough food in his bowl, and he even gave him a nice fresh bowl of water to go with his kibbles.

When Tim finished his meal he looked over at Tony, who was standing in the door frame. "I have a plan," Tim said, he looked determined. "I'm going back to NCIS, and I'm going to crack that damn thing. I will stay there as long as I need to, but I am not coming home before I cracked it. "

He left without saying another word or even a goodbye to Jethro. He grabbed a bag with a few things and headed of to the Navy Yard.

Tim sat in his car and drove back to the Navy Yard. He would borrow Abby's futon if necessary, but he didn't want to sleep. He just wanted to crack the code and get back to Gibbs' team and be happy again.

He greeted that guard that had just let him out hours before and he walked in a steady pace back to the Cyber Crimes unit.

The elevator went down and it always felt like he was going to the center of the earth. But when the elevator doors opened he smiled, this was geek town, and after weeks of working here he felt a little attached to all the other people.

He walked over to his desk to find a big white envelop. He figured that it would be something from the Director, but his breath stopped in his throat when he saw what it was.

First a note came out: "Get a girl if you want to live."

He wondered what that could mean.

Next came several photos of him and Tony. Seven to be precise, and on every picture they were kissing, or holding hands, or hugging. Every picture looked like it was taken from some distance. But the thing that made all the color leave his face was that on every picture was a target circle around his head.

He forced himself to breath and picked up his phone.

"Tony, you really need to come down here."

His voice was so desperate that Tony didn't hesitate and jumped in his car. He made a new record and within twenty minutes he ran through the door of the Cyber Crimes basement.

McGee was sitting at his desk, staring at the photos. When Tony saw the pictures his blood boiled. He called Gibbs and Abby and asked them to come over.

He wheeled McGee and his chair over to the other side of the room. Abby had to dust for prints later, and he didn't want McGee to see the pictures anymore.

Totally unexpected McGee pulled in to his lap and hugged him sideways. "I'm scared" he admitted. "Things on the job I can handle, but this is personal." He shivered.

Tony ruffled his hair and kissed him on his head. "We will get to the bottom of this, I promise. No one threatens my boyfriend!" He exclaimed.

The sat in silence for the rest of the time before Gibbs finally came. "This better be really important," he huffed.

Tony showed him the pictures without saying a word. Gibbs' face showed a blend of anger and pain for a second before he put his usual unreadable expression on. He was about to say something when Abby stormed in.

"What's going on? Are we organizing a party?" she jumped up and down, excited, but one look at the sad faces calmed her down. "We're not having a party huh," she said with a small voice.

When she noticed the photo's she walked over and stared at them for a second. Then she ran to McGee and crushed him in a hug.

"Don't worry Timmy, we will find him. I'll dust for fingerprints, and review the security footage. Tony and Gibbs will keep you safe." she rambled on. "They will keep you safe." she said empathizing every word.

"You dust for prints," Gibbs told Abby. "Tim and Tony, watch the security footage." He walked off, and before the elevator doors closed they heard him mutter that he needed to speak to Vance again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Gibbs wasn't surprised to find that the director was still in his office. He walked in without knocking, earning him an irritated look from Vance.

"I thought we had our daily show-off already," he said to Gibbs.

"That's not why I'm here." Gibbs replied. "There are things that you don't know about, and I'm here to tell you those things, but you need to promise that you will keep them to yourself."

Vance sighed hearing this cryptic description. "I won't tell anyone else," he swore.

"Tim and Tony are living together," he revealed. But when he realized that Vance didn't get what he was trying to say he elaborated. "As lovers."

"Oh," Vance was shocked. DiNozzo had a reputation as ladies man, but apparently he went both ways. "Care to explain why you're telling me this now?" He asked.

"Someone is threatening Tim. He's receiving pictures of him and DiNozzo, showing him as the target, because he's gay."

"Well, protect him and find out who's doing this," Vance ordered, not showing the least bit of surprise about the news. "You know the drill."

Gibbs went to Abby's lab first, but as he expected, there were no fingerprints on the pictures or envelope, only McGee's.

Frustrated he took her back to the sub-basement to check on the progress that McGee and Tony should have made. But they hadn't found a trace of the killer yet. It seemed like they created a little loop in the security camera because one second the desk is empty and the next there's an envelop.

McGee felt frustrated and bashed his head against his desk, only to be stopped when Tony laid his hand on his neck. "Come on Tim, we're smarter than this. We can beat him, because you're smarter."

Gibbs watched with a smile at his agent's interaction. In the squad room during work hours he enjoyed their banter, but it was good to see that they could complement each other. Tony showed a side of himself to Tim that was so different from his usual, joking self.

He cleared his throat to acknowledge their presence.

"Nothing yet boss," McGee answered on autopilot.

"But we will find something," Tony added.  
"How about the elevator to the basement, Tim? We know the time that he placed the envelop here, we can look around those times to see if we can find him while he goes in or out of the elevator."

Tony grabbed Tim's hand and gave him encouraging push. Tim sighed and clicked a few times with his mouse. Some time later that evening he jumped up.

"I have it boss," he exclaimed. .

Gibbs walked over to the screen and waited until McGee started his explanation.

"Here you see a tiny piece of the elevator, when you really look you can see something red slide out of the elevator. This is just around the time that the loop is created for the other camera." He explained while pointing at the red dot in the screen. "I checked all the other cameras and this," he said while clicking on another screen. "And see what we have here," the screen showed a man with a red hoodie, walking to the elevator with a white envelope.

"I want a name with that face," Gibbs growled. "Abby, put it into your facial recognition program, and then, go home." He looked over at Tony and Tim. "Tony, you go home and be careful, I'm taking Tim with me, I'm not going to take a chance on this."

After a few minutes everyone drove off to their own homes, Tim in Gibbs' car. He was thinking that driving with Gibbs wasn't really that safe either, but he didn't complain.

When they arrived at his house Gibbs showed Tim the spare bedroom, there was a double bed and a closet, in the corner was a chair, the room wasn't used much, but McGee didn't expect that Gibbs was the visitor's type.

He took a quick shower and told Gibbs that he was going to bed. Gibbs wished him a good night and told him that they would leave at 7 o'clock the next morning.

McGee lay down in the bed but without Tony it felt way too big. He tossed and turned and got up again. He looked outside of the window. To his surprise he saw a dark car standing across the street and behind the steering wheel was someone reading a map.  
With a start McGee realized that he was being watched. He turned the lights off and walked over to Gibbs' basement.

"There is a surveillance car outside," he said. "I think we're being watched."

Gibbs settled McGee down and walked up the stairs. "I'll take a look," he promised.

A few minutes later he came back in. "Nothing special, it was just someone who was really lost. I told him which way to go and he went away." McGee's face showed disbelief. "I waited a few minutes but he didn't come back," Gibbs added.  
Tim walked back upstairs and a few minutes later he was in bed again. The long day had been tiring and a little while later he fell asleep.

Gibbs was working in his basement, and neither of them noticed a black car parking down the street. A man with a dark hoodie came out. He snuck over to Gibbs' house and opened the back door. He wasn't surprised to find it unlocked.

Careful not to make a sound he slid up the stairs, waiting a few seconds after every step he took. As silent as he could he opened the door to the spare room, smiling upon the sight of the man asleep.

Tim was on the verge of falling asleep when he heard someone entering his room. With a giant effort he pulled his hand from under the sheet and tried to grab his gun from the nightstand, only to be stopped when he felt familiar fingers lacing through his.  
"I couldn't sleep without you Tim." Tony said. "I tried not to wake you up, but apparently I failed."

McGee didn't say anything but he smiled. He waited the few seconds until Tony was undressed and laying in the bed with him. They snuggled close and after a few minutes they were both sound asleep.

Down in the kitchen Gibbs smiled, he was aware that Tony had snuck in his house and joined Tim in the bed. Walking down to the basement he decided that there was enough time to do some work on his boat.

None of them knew of the danger ahead.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N  
I really want to thank all the reviewers! It makes my day if i see that i have a new one. This story is finished and will be posted as soon as I get the chapters back from my beta.

* * *

Chapter 4

The next morning Gibbs woke up to the smell of coffee and pancakes. He smiled and thought that having a roommate could be a good thing. He put some clothes on and walked down the stairs.

What he saw in his kitchen surprised him slightly.

Tim and Tony both stood in their boxers in the kitchen, Tim was also wearing an MIT shirt. Tony's hair was covered in what he suspected was pancake flour. Tony was flipping a pancake in the pan and Tim stirring the batter.

DiNozzo was singing a song and Tim was swinging his hips to the rhythm. Once in a while they gave each other a small kiss.

Gibbs stood there for several minutes before he walked away. This whole routine reminded him of Shannon and Kelly, he had made pancakes at least once a month for them and they hadalways helped him.

He didn't know if jealous was the right word, watching his agents play after hours, but still serious as always in the office, he didn't envy them. It had to be hard, seeing the person you love in danger from time to time. That's why they should keep this out of the office, Gibbs thought. But so far they had done a pretty good job.

He walked back upstairs to put on some clothes; he expected that the pancakes would be ready by the time he got back. And he was right. He walked into Tim, Tony and a stack of pancakes with syrup.

He made the table together with Tim while Tony got the flour out of his hair. A few minutes later they sat at the table and enjoyed the meal together. Tim was stunned when Gibbs started making jokes; this was a different side of his boss.

When they finally got ready McGee drove with Gibbs to NCIS while Tony took his own car. In the squad room they gathered Ziva and Abby so that they could make a plan. No one could threaten one of them and get away with it!

Throughout the night Abby had made some plans and presented them to the team. Everyone had trouble not laughing; every new plan was more ridiculous than the last.

Her plan to send McGee through cosmetic surgery was the worst.

"Abs!" Gibbs said in his usual gruff manner. "None of that is going to help us."

Ziva on the other had had a real plan. "Let's put Tim out in the open," she said. "He has to wear a bulletproof vest, to be sure, but what if we let him walk around the office all day, making out with Tony and holding hands and everything. That would trigger the man who made the photos, yes?"

Tony snorted. "Yes, sure Ziva, as usual using Tim as a bull's eye is going to work just fine."

But Gibbs on the other hand saw something in the plan. "We let him wear a little camera, and if the bastard sends a new picture we may get lucky and find him on the footage if we candetermine the time and place."

They all agreed to the plan and Abby decided to put in a request for a small camera that she would put in Tim's tie or something. Tim went back to the subbasement; there was still some work for him to do there.

Tony didn't want to leave him alone but one look from Gibbs told him that he had to let him go. DiNozzo sighed behind his desk and got to work, looking through the file that he had open, the case that they were officially working on. But he couldn't focus.

He jumped up from behind his desk and walked over to Gibbs' desk.

"There is no way in hell that Tim is going to be the target!"

His voice was high and he was frustrated, it oozed out of every pore in his body.

Gibbs sighed; this was exactly the reason behind Rule Twelve. "If you can't keep this out of the office, I'm taking you off of this case."

His eyes were cold as ice; Tony had to know that he was dead serious; if he kept reacting this emotionally he was going to screw up.

Tony thought about what to say, but he knew that Gibbs was right. With fresh reluctance he sat down behind his desk, glaring at Gibbs. He hated it when the man was right.

He sat down behind his desk, frustrated. If this was going to happen they needed a plan. He hung his jacket on his chair and grabbed a piece of fresh white paper. He picked up a pen and within a few minutes he was writing franticly, within an hour the area around his desk was covered in white papers with words on them.

Gibbs looked over to the desk of his senior agent. He was focusing really hard; he didn't notice what was happening around him. Gibbs smiled when Tony's phone rang.

He walked over to the desk and picked up the phone.

A brief smile escaped his lips when he heard the confusion in McGee's voice.

"Um, Boss? Where's Tony?"

"He's working really hard on something," Gibbs explained. "What's up?"

"I have a plan worked out; meet me in an hour at Abby's lab." He said and hung up the phone. Gibbs smiled; McGee was finally growing a spine.

He looked over at Tony, he was still writing. He slapped him on the head.

"DiNozzo," he shouted. "What are you doing?" Tony gave him a dazed look.

"What boss?" He asked.

"McGee called, he has a plan, we're meeting him in an hour in Abby's lab. Care to share what you are working on?"

Tony sighed and grabbed a few papers. "I had a few questions, why are they targeting McGee and not me?" He looked at Gibbs, seeing that he had his attention he continued.

"From all the people that know that we're a couple, everyone knows that McGee is mentally stronger, and weaker physically, so I was thinking, who could know, or suspect that we were dating and McGee is the weaker one."

He looked over to Gibbs and Ziva, who had joined them. "Every one of these papers symbolizes a suspect. People who could have picked up on our relationship and have a problem with it."

He picked up the paper he was working on.

"Dashmir, the janitor for instance, he's republican, so it could be that he is against gays, not sure about that, but it could be. He could have seen us when we were doing personal things in thejanitor room." He explained while trying to cover his blush.

"Or Director Vance, it's his job to know things, so he could know that we have a relationship. But I'm not sure about him; he is one of my weaker cases." He said while pointing to the papers.

The next half hour Tony worked more on his suspects. Ziva was reviewing them and scribbling notes on the papers.

When it had been an hour Gibbs whistled and waited until Tony and Ziva followed him to Abby's lab. Tony had taken a step back when he walked into Abby's lab. Even though he knew that Tim loved him, seeing him and Abby work close together always made him jealous.

Gibbs walked past him and handed Abby a caff-pow! "What do you got?" He asked McGee.

"I was thinking," He started and hesitated, but when he got an encouraging nod from Tony he continued. "The camera idea wasn't all bad. If I carry a camera in my tie-pin we could record everywhere I go. If I receive more pictures we can scan the pictures. I wrote a program that scans the pictures and compares it to the material that my tie-pin camera recorded."

He looked up to Gibbs, eager to get an Atta boy. But he only saw a questioning look.

"That camera thingy, when can you get it?"

McGee pointed to Abby who was working on something very small. "A few more minutes," Abby said while continue to work on the tie-pin camera.

"Make it happen." Gibbs said before walking out of the lab. When he was only followed by Ziva he walked back. "You coming DiNozzo?" He asked, sounding amused.

Up in the bullpen he waited for the two of them to stand by his desk. "Listen up, you're both his protection detail. We may be dealing with a serious nut case. McGee is going to wear abulletproof vest all the time, but he still needs protection. Ziva, you're responsible for him at work and getting him to my house. Tony, you take care of him at night and on your way to work. Make sure that you don't get tailed."

Seeing Tony's grin he knew he had to add something. "DiNozzo, you take the chair and no sleeping while on protection detail, you can sleep when he's at work."

"Go take care of it," he said while waving them away with his hand. "And Tony, give me those damn papers!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

He stood silently on the balcony, watching Gibbs and his team taking care of their problem. Sighing Leon Vance walked back into his office.

NCIS had a zero tolerance policy towards racism. He had to make sure that this wasn't going to be the norm; he just had no clue how to do it. Another seminar? An email to every employee? Vance sighed and dug a map out of his desk. It was time to do some research.

---

McGee knew that he was being followed by Ziva. She had followed him in a subtle way. The subtle part stopped when she walked into the men's room.

"I heard rumors about a Mossad officer following male agents into the men's room," he joked while washing his hands. "I didn't have to go; I just wanted to see if you really would follow me in."

She smiled and walked back out of the toilet.

"Wanna go out for coffee?" McGee asked when he walked out of the door a minute later. "You're going to follow me anyway, why not invite you?"

With smile she accepted his invitation and they walked together chatting to their regular coffee place.

---

Neither of them noticed the red Ford focus on them from the other side of the street. It wasn't a noticeable car. There were bumps and scratches all it. There was no one in the driver's seat, but in the backseat was a man with a camera, snapping pictures.

If Ziva or McGee had looked outside them might had noticed him, but they didn't. And a few minutes later the car drove away, its driver smiling.

---

Just before Tony was going to take McGee home an envelope arrived for him. He wanted to drop it on his desk and forget about it until tomorrow morning, but McGee pushed him to open his mail.

Tony ripped the envelope open and a photo fell out. 'Seems like your friend is going the right way,' was scribbled on the backside. With a pair of tweezers McGee picked up the picture and turned it around. It was a picture of him and Ziva at the coffee place. For some reason McGee was holding her hand. He was about to explain it all to Tony when one look at the man told him that he knew that they were just friends.

Gibbs walked in and saw that another picture had arrived.

"Abby's lab now!" He barked while calling Abby to tell her that they would be coming in.

Abby was ready for them, waiting in her lab with a variety of things the thought she would need. She started with checking the photograph for prints, but found none.

After that she loaded the data from McGee's camera onto her computer. Unfortunately for them it only showed Ziva's cleavage, a sign that McGee had been looking at her. Wanting to be thorough, she examined all the footage that was taken shortly before, during, or shortly after their visit to the coffeehouse, but she found nothing.

"No one knew that we were going there Boss," McGee said. "It was a spur of the moment thing. If I had known that this would happen, I never would have gone."

Gibbs knew that McGee knew that is wasn't his fault, and he wasn't going to tell him that again. He just sighed and left the lab after making sure that Tony would take McGee to his place that evening.

---

Gibbs was working in his basement when he heard the door open. He assumed that it was Tony and McGee so he paid no intention to it. But when he didn't hear them in the next couple of minutes he became curious. Checking his SIG, on his side, he crept up the stairs. Just when he walked into the kitchen he heard someone run out the front door.

He ran after the person but the only thing he saw was a red Ford driving off of his street. He sighed and walked back inside. He had to find out what the intruder had done before McGee and DiNozzo did.

It didn't take him long to find the crime scene. His guest bedroom had been methodically searched and personal items destroyed. Shaving cream was on the bed together with liquid soap and something that looked like wet toilet paper.

On the wall in bright red letters was written,

'Consider yourself warned'

He phoned Abby again, telling her shortly what had happened and that they would be bringing in more evidence. After that he called Ziva and Tony, shortly explaining to them what had happened. Tony became furious and refused to take Tim with him, if the intruder knew where to look Tim wasn't safe. But Gibbs just told him to get over it and to get his ass over here.

When the others arrived they silently started to shoot and sketch. After having processed everything in the guestroom they went through the house, making sure that they had every single piece of evidence.

It was Ziva who found a ripped fingertip from a rubber glove on the front lawn. She photographed it and picked it up with tweezers, examining it.

"Looks like red paint," she said, looking at a little red spot on the tip.

She bagged the last item and dropped into an evidence box. It was time to drive back to the Navy Yard.

As a black sedan drove by, the man behind the wheel laughed, his plan had worked, McGee looked really shaken up. Stepping on the gas peddle he drove into the night.

---

Abby dove into the evidence box as a dog would attack a bone. Smiling she pulled out a shredded pair of boxers. "I wonder what I'll find if I examine this," she teased, smirking. Closing her eyes she pulled more evidence back out of the box. It was the ripped finger of the glove.

Her first test showed that it wasn't paint on the glove, it was blood. Excited Abby went to work.

"You can go home," Abby said. "It will take at least twelve hours to get the results, and you won't speed things up with being here," but they all just ignored her. Gibbs walked to the squad room to sit at his desk, thinking.

McGee and Tony pulled the futon from under the bench and lay down in the ballistics lab. Ziva kept staring at Abby until she snapped and kicked Ziva out of her lab.

---

Abby sat at her workbench, head resting on her arms, dozing. Well, she was more thinking than dozing. She had no clue who would want to hurt her Tim. Abby smiled, even though McGee and Tony had been dating for a few months, she still thought of him as her Tim, or Timmy.

She had been surprised when she heard about their first date, but soon enough she saw in their relationship what Tim's and hers had never had. They kept it out the office, well usually, one time she had walked into her lab and discovered them doing some pretty hinky stuff.

But not only was someone wanting to hurt Tim horrible, the thought alone made her blood boil. She was going to find the person responsible and she would kick his ass backward and forward.

She walked over to her main computer station, just to check once more on the results. Still nothing. She yawned and looked over to her comfortable futon to see Tim smiling at her. Moving himself and Tony a little he made a place for her. Smiling, she fell asleep in the arms of her best friend and his lover.

---  
Tony woke up hearing a beeping sound, originating from somewhere in the same room he was. Without opening his eyes he tried to figure out where he was.

His nose was nuzzled in Tim's hair, it smelled like lavender, as always. One of his legs was between Tim's and his arms were stroking his stomach.

That was when Tony hesitated, when had Tim gotten a flat stomach? He liked Tim's old belly better. His hands continued their exploring adventure, only to feel a pair of very feminine breasts. Startled, he rolled back and dropped off the futon. He lifted his torso and discovered that he had been holding Tim who had been holding Abby.

Slowly waking up he discovered that the beeping sound was coming from Abby's main computer. He crawled over to wake Abby. She jumped up and ran over to the computer.

"We have a match!" She shouted happily, bouncing up and down. She was tempted to press 'show results' now, but she wanted Gibbs to be there when they would discover the intruder's identity.

Checking her clock she discovered that it was already past seven a.m. She was about to dial his number when Gibbs walked in, together with Ziva.

"You never disappoint me Gibbs," she said bouncing while accepting the Caff-Pow! Ziva handed Tony and McGee a coffee and together they gathered around the computer.

With a theatrical gesture she pushed the 'show results' button, only to stare in the face of NCIS Director Leon Vance.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A ding made Leon Vance look up; he wondered why his computer was beeping this time. He clicked the red cross on the screen. It was a notification that someone was looking in his file. He scrolled down the notification. His filed was accessed from autopsy. He sighed, because, he knew that his game was over. Grabbing his SIG he walked out of his office, slamming the door behind him.

---

Over the next couple of days no one could figure out where Leon Vance was. It was treated as a security risk; no one knew what he was doing or where he was going. Every single NCIS agent was working to find him. McGee, however, was somewhere with Tony, far away in a safe house, even Gibbs didn't know the details.

---

McGee was sitting at the dining room table in the crappy little apartment. As soon as they had discovered Vance had left, Tony had dragged him here, buying some clothes and a toothbrush on their way over.

--Flashback--

"This is not a freaking debate Tim!" Tony yelled when his boyfriend refused to step into the car. "If anything happens to you, because I couldn't keep you safe, I'll never forgive myself!"

With a long face and a sigh McGee sat down in the car. "I'm fine Tony; I'm a trained Federal Agent for peats sake. Nothing is going to happen to me." Tony simply neglected Tim's whiny complaints and drove his car to the nearest car rental. He picked a credit card and a false ID out of his wallet, and walked over to desk to rent a car. Much to Tim's surprise he took an ordinary car and not the flashy one Tim had expected him to take.

Still not listening to Tim he picked up his cell phone and dialed a number when they were back on the road again.

"Hello Marie, its Tony."

"I'm fine, thanks. Listen, I need the place, can you all have it ready by tomorrow afternoon?"

...  
"We talked about this, if it came too far I couldn't discuss the details, you know that."

He listened for a few more seconds while Tim was wondering what all of this was. Tony having a fake ID and a credit card in that name, it was almost like he had a complete back up plan.

After he hung up, Tim turned his big green eyes to Tony and asked him the question he had wanted to ask for the last hour.

"Tony? What's going on?"

Tony knew that this wasn't something he could put off with a laugh or a joke.

"I made some enemies, here at NCIS, in Baltimore; even in Philly, some things went pretty bad sometimes. Since I know how bad things can go, I created a fake identity and rented an apartment in a small town in Tennessee. From now on you refer to me as Charlie and I pay for everything, we can't risk Vance or one of his sick buddies picking up on you."

McGee was about to make a really bad joke, but when he saw the look Tony was giving him he knew that this was serious.

"You can't give up this quickly because I might be in danger!" He tried one last time, but he knew that it was a lost cause. Tony was going to do this and he had to go along for the ride.

"Get some sleep," Tony said. "I'll wake you in a few hours so you can continue to drive while I sleep." Kissing Tony on the cheek McGee lay back down in his seat and closed his eyes. He was along for the ride; he had better make the best of it.

---

Back in DC things were going a lot worse. With Vance having gone AWAL, SecNav thought that it was a good idea to name Gibbs as temporary director. After only two days, he had fired at least half the agency and some agents twice. If it hadn't been for Abby, everyone would have run away but she was able to convince everyone that he wasn't really firing them.

After the third day the, the agents gathered and convinced Ducky to help them and Gibbs with his 'acting as director thing.' Knowing that he was these agents last hope Ducky agreed and grabbed his bag to go join Gibbs in his new office.

Knowing why Ducky was there Gibbs offered him a chair and a glass of bourbon.

"I can't find the damn Bastard," Gibbs sighed. "He is somewhere out there targeting my people and doing who knows what else!" With frustration beaming off his face, he walked back and forth in the office like he was some kind of caged animal. "His wife hasn't seen him in days, in fact, no one has, his car is here in the garage, and we don't even have footage of him leaving this building."

Kicking the chair he barged out of his office, leaving Ducky behind. If there was ever a time for coffee it was now. When he came back half an hour later, the bullpen was quiet and filled with working agents; it hadn't been this organized since Vance had left. He figured that it had been the ME's work and was thankful that he had brought tea for his friend.

Before stepping into his office he stood still before Cynthia's desk and felt guilty when he noticed that the woman flinched involuntarily. He had been yelling way too much at her the last few days. He handed her a bouquet of flowers he had been holding and walked without anymore words into his office.

It wasn't really his office anymore. Ducky had completely taken over. There were Post-its everywhere. Taking a closer look Gibbs saw that they were places Leon could be, things he could have done. So far Cyber Crimes hadn't found a security breach and everyone was thankful for that.

Gibbs grabbed a red marker and started crossing off the possibilities he knew one of the agents had already checked out. It left them still with a lot of places Vance could be.

Ducky walked over to the balcony to hand all the agents an assignment while Gibbs tried to get hold of Tony and McGee.

The only thing Tony had told him was that they were going someplace safe and they would contact him in a few days to see if the coast was clear yet. When neither of them picked up their phones he got worried. With a nagging feeling in his chest he sat down in his chair, thinking that this might be a good time to pray.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Are you guys ready for a realyl dramatic ending?

---

Chapter seven.

McGee couldn't believe that it was already five days since they had left DC. They had arrived here three days ago, and after a quick stop at the local grocery store Tony had taken him to a nice little apartment. After that, they had only left the bed to shower, eat, or use the bathroom.

Snuggling close to Tony, McGee felt bad. He had left almost everyone he cared about behind without a clue. Abby must be going crazy by now, he thought smiling.

When he felt Tony stir he turned around and poked his lover's side. "Tony, let's go out today," he whined. "We've been here like forever and I'm bored." And even though Tony really didn't want to he agreed, just to make McGee happy. Tim was a family and friend person, while Tony on the other hand had been pretty much alone for as long as he could remember. There had been that thing with Jeanne, and now it was there again, but with McGee this time.

"We could go to the local mall," Tony suggested, seeing Tim's face lit up. "I'll take a shower and get dressed, you make sure to have breakfast ready when I'm done," he said with a teasing smile, knowing that McGee loved to cook.

---  
McGee enjoyed every second of their trip. Even though it had only been three days since they had moved into the house it felt like forever. The walls were closing in on him and Tony's overprotective attitude was irritating him.

They walked in and out of every store the little mall had. Tony and Tim were both carrying bags with various foods and decorations for their house. Pretending that he was near death, Tony dropped himself on the chair of a small diner. They sat at the window and enjoyed the view of the park they had. Chatting about normal things they ordered coffee and pie, neither of them noticing a red Ford parking across the street.

---

Vance sighed, half the country was probably searching for him, a director of a federal agency threatening people and then taking off by surprise, wasn't what SecNav had in mind for Director of the Year Award. But he had to finish this; Men didn't deserve to be happy together, he thought before stuffing his SIG under his waistband and stepping out of the car.

---

Tony was the first to notice Vance walking on the sidewalk next to the diner. It was too big of a coincidence, and he didn't believe in coincidences.

He grabbed McGee by his shirt collar and dragged him to the bathroom.

"Tony, what the hell?" He asked before hearing screams coming from the diner.

Tony just looked at McGee and saw all the pieces fall into place in his eyes.

"It's Vance! He's here, isn't he?" Tony didn't need to answer him, he already knew.

Tony grabbed his weapon and handed his backup to McGee. With one last kiss he said a goodbye he was hoping he wouldn't need. Seeing Tim's eyes tear up he slapped him on the back of the head and signed his plan.

Tim was lying on the ground, he was going to shoot Vance, and Tony would be standing, kicking the door open and distracting Vance. They prayed it would be over in minutes.

McGee looked underneath the door and saw scared customers and employees, all paying a price that wasn't theirs to pay. Counting down from ten Tony kicked open the door and started to fire at Vance who was returning fire at the same moment. It took McGee one shot. One bullet went right through his head and Leon Vance dropped down dead.

Relieved Tim turned to Tony, only to see the man he loved so much, pale and with a big bloodstain on his chest, leaning on the bathroom door.

He felt years of training take over as he lowered Tony onto the ground. He ripped his shirt off his chest and pushed it on the center of the bloodstain. "Don't you dare to give up on me," Tim whispered, knowing how cliché he sounded. "There is no way in hell you're going to die right now," Tim told him. "They already called an Ambulance. I'm going to call Gibbs in a little while so they can remove Vance and you're going to be okay."

When Tony didn't respond he pushed a little harder. Much to his delight Tony groaned. If he could groan that meant he was still alive. Tim leaned over to kiss Tony, he still didn't know if he would make it, so he had to say goodbye.

With his eyes full of tears, he swallowed.

"When I first met you, I was young and naive. A real probie, and boy, did I hate you at first, but slowly I learned that there was no way I could live without you. And I was stunned when you asked me out on a real date," He smiled at the memory. "I'm glad that I could learn from you how it feels to be loved, and that you taught me how to play a good prank."

His tears were now dripping with a steady pace onto Tony's, chest but he ignored them.

"Right now, you're my world, my sunshine in the morning, the muse for my books, and my reason to get out of bed. Or stay in bed for that matter. I just want you to know, that I love you with everything I am," Tim ended.

Much to his surprise, Tony's eyes flickered open for just a second. But the look that Tony gave Tim told him all that he needed to know. Tony loved him just as much, if not more.

---

Shortly after that the EMT's rushed in and took Tony away. McGee wasn't allowed in the ambulance so he had to take a taxi. On his way over to the hospital he called Gibbs and told him everything that had happened.

Within the next two hours Gibbs had taken Ziva and the NCIS plane and flown to the hospital where Tony was. This was the only time that he was happy that he was acting Director. The moment he walked in the ER he saw McGee sitting in a chair; he was wearing his jacket over his bare chest. He looked so lost.

When Tim saw his boss he felt himself melt. He stood up and walked over to Gibbs, with his eyes full of tears, he hugged Gibbs, needing to feel safe, he needed someone to tell him that everything was going to be alright.

There was nothing more Gibbs could do other than hold McGee, and he held him like his life depended on it. He knew the pain of losing a loved one, and he wanted to be there for Tim every step of this horrible road.

"I'll go check at the nurse's station," Ziva whispered. She returned after a little while. "No news, his condition is still critical; they will tell us as soon as they know something."

And so the waiting begun, seconds turned in to really long minutes, and those endless minutes turned into hours. Finally the doors opened, revealing two bloody surgeons. They walked over to the nurse's station.

"The guy that was shot didn't make it," the one on the left said. He didn't say it loudly but they all heard it.

Ziva stood up and walked away, while Tim started sobbing and clung onto Gibbs. Neither of them heard what the other surgeon said.

"Glad that he was just a homeless guy, they're almost finished with the Federal Agent; he's probably going to make it."

After a few minutes of crying McGee suddenly ripped himself loose from Gibbs. "I've got to go," he stammered before running away. Gibbs, who felt protective of him, ran after him.

It all happened in a few seconds, McGee ran onto the street, not looking either way. The moment he ran onto the street an ambulance approached and hit him. A few milliseconds later McGee's body flew through the air and landed with a horrible smack on the sidewalk.

The EMT's jumped out of their ambulance and ran over to McGee. They started CPR and mouth to mouth but gave up after a few minutes. At 6:03 p.m., on an early morning, Timothy McGee was declared dead.

Gibbs sat silently on the sidewalk for minutes, tears clouding his vision, while he watched them take McGee to the morgue. When his phone rang and he noticed it was Ziva, he didn't know what to say.

"Yes?" He said, trying not to let his tears show in his voice.

"There was another guy shot!" Ziva said happy. "Tony's still alive, he's critical but he's alive."

Gibbs couldn't take it anymore; he closed his phone and gave into silent sobs.

After an hour he walked back into the ER waiting room. Ziva was talking to a nurse. She still looked happy, and it was up to him to tell her and Tony that McGee was dead.

He guided her into Tony's room and motioned her to sit down next to the bed.

"Where's McGee?" Tony's soft voice asked.

Gibbs walked over to his bed and grabbed his hand. He swallowed hard before he began.

"McGee did it make it out of the diner unhurt. But after we arrived a surgeon said that a person had died from a gunshot to the chest. We thought that it was you. That's when McGee ran off."

Tears started to pile up in his eyes again, he couldn't look at Tony.

"He ran out onto the street and got hit by an ambulance. He was dead before he hit the ground."

Gibbs had never been one to sugarcoat things, and he knew that now wasn't the time to start. He looked into Tony's eyes. "I'm so sorry," he said before turning away and looking out the window.

"No, no, no," Tony continued saying, his voice become louder and louder. Ziva was trying to hold him and give him comfort, but nothing helped. Until his voice stopped and there only was a long beep of the heart monitor left.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for all the reviews, here it is, the end of the story!

---

Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS; or the song Hallelujah, they are the property of their respective creators.

Six days later there were two funerals, two black coffins covered with roses, dozens of crying people, and a really depressed Abby. Gibbs had brought her the news himself, she hadn't stopped crying since, she didn't eat anymore, and she refused to come out of her bed.

Ziva wasn't herself anymore; she didn't joke, didn't laugh and barely talked. And even though Gibbs liked to believe he was handling it well, he knew he wasn't. He woke up in the middle of the night, seeing Tony's body shaking or McGee being hit by the ambulance.

There was an acting director for the time being. But everyone knew that things would never be the same again.

He was sitting in the front row, Abby on his left side and Ziva on his right. Tons of people who had barely know his agents had given a speech, all about how great they were, how much they were going to be missed. But in Gibbs' point of view they missed it all.

So when it was his turn to say something he walked up to the stand and looked over the people to the trees.

"A lot has been said, and every word of it was true. They were dedicated agents, willing to risk it all for their team, for their country.

But the most important thing about them was their bond. They were not only great as partners, they were great as lovers. They complemented each other.

They died for each other, defending what they believed in. I hope that they're together right now.

And even though they're in a better place now, they're going to be missed."

When Gibbs left the stage with tears in his eyes everyone was silent. After the service was over most of the people went back to their house to go on with their normal lives, but Gibbs knew that his life would never be the same again.

He sunk down on the ground next to Abby and held her close, comforting her the best he could. When the rain started to fall down and she laid her head on his shoulder there was only one thing that he could whisper.

"Love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah."


End file.
